


or would you take me to the garden?

by rachelwrites



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25619404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachelwrites/pseuds/rachelwrites
Summary: zuko and mai get back together, post-smoke and shadows. inspired by taylor swift's betty.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	or would you take me to the garden?

**Author's Note:**

> i just really wanted to write something for them i know this isn't good but... i love them <3

Zuko paced back and forth in front of the flower shop. He held a box of chocolates in his hand. Mai’s family _owned_ a flower shop now, she wouldn’t want flowers right? Now when she spent her whole day surrounded by them?

He’d walked up to the door a total of ten times and had, in turn, walked away from the door ten times. Zuko was nervous. He was _too_ nervous. He should go back to the palace, calm his nerves and come back tomorrow. Or in a week. Or maybe never.

Of course, that’s when it starts raining.

Caldera City gets rain _maybe_ twice a year. There was no warning of it in the forecast this morning. But now it’s pouring and Zuko is holding the cardboard box tight to his chest, hoping the sweets inside don’t melt. He looks at his guards helplessly, and they understand his signal. They start prepping the carriage for a return to the palace. Until he hears, “You _idiot_ , get inside. Your oafs can come too.”

He whips around at the voice and sees Mai smirking at him from the doorway, holding Tom-Tom on her hip. The little boy waves and says, “Hi Mister Fire Lord!” with a big grin. Even Zuko smiles at that, and he motions for the guards to follow him as he began to walk inside.

Mai shakes her head at him as she passes. “It was fun watching you pace,” she says. “I definitely would have let you chicken out if it wasn’t for the rain.”

Despite himself, Zuko grins. “Nice to see you too Mai. Um, I got you these? They’re chocolate.”

Mai takes the wet cardboard package and raises an eyebrow. “I hate chocolate,” she says.

“I know,” says Zuko, raising his arm to scratch the back of his neck, “but I figured it was this or flowers and you live in a flower shop so…” He held her gaze for a moment, neither of them wanting to interrupt the silence.

“I don’t hate chocolate!” Tom-Tom interjected. “Give it to me, please!”

Mai laughed, a rare and beautiful sound if Zuko had ever heard one. She leaned down to ruffle Tom-Tom’s hair and said, “Sure thing, kiddo.” She gave him the chocolates and he smiled and ran off to eat them. Mai turned back to Zuko and asked, “Do you want to sit?”

“Um, no thank you,” he said. “I… want to say what I need to say. And if I sit I really might lose my nerve.”

“Zuko,” Mai said, soft but firmly, “sit.” He did. Mai slid into the chair across the table from his. “I think I know why you’re here,” she said.

“Mai,” Zuko said, “I know you had your reasons for breaking up with me. And all of them were good ones. But Mai,”

“Zuko,”

“Mai, please,” he said, “I have to finish this. I miss you. I miss you so much, I miss _us_. And I’m working really hard to be better. I… I think we should…” It’s only then he notices Mai is laughing at him. “What?” he demands. “Am I saying something funny?”

“No,” she says, still giggling, “excuse me. Please continue.”

Zuko frowns. “Well it’s kind of hard to tell you that I love you and I want us to be together again when you’re laughing at me.”

That made Mai laugh even _harder_. Zuko was really trying not to pout, but he couldn’t help it. “Zuko,” Mai said, in between her chuckles, “yes.”

Zuko perked up. “Yes? Yes what?”

“Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend again. I love you too, you idiot.”

“Oh, um,” Zuko smiled, “can I kiss you?” As a response Mai got up from her chair and sat on Zuko’s lap. Then she leaned in to kiss him. Zuko’s mind blanked, all he could think about was how right it felt to have her back close to him. He brought his hand up to her neck to lean her down, and Mai tanged her fingers in his hair in response. Eventually, they broke apart, both smiling.

“I was just waiting for you to come by,” Mai said. “I didn’t want to be the one to chase after you this time.”

“Oh,” said Zuko, the realization hitting him, “I only took so long because I didn’t want to, uh, invade your space or anything.”

Mai’s smile grew an inch, and for that Zuko couldn’t be happier. “Well,” she said, “you’re back now, and that’s what matters.”

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment or kudos to show me you care! follow me on tumblr [tophbejfong](https://tophbejfong.tumblr.com/)


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